Coptic > Sectarian > Donation from Australia Copts to family of Muslim guard killed in church attack

Donation from Australia Copts to family of Muslim guard killed in church attack

11-02-2018 08:34 PM

Nevine Gadallah

The widow of the Muslim policeman killed during a gunfire attack against the church of Mar-Mina in Helwan, south of Cairo, on 29 December 2017, was received by Anba Yulius, General Bishop of Old Cairo and of Services, who handed her a cheque for EGP140,000 (approximately USD8,000) donated by the Coptic community in Australia.

Fathiya Muhammad, widow of the policeman Reda Abdel-Rahman Ismail who was, together with another policeman, on duty guarding Mar-Mina’s when the gunfire attack in which he lost his life took place, has seven children to provide for.

Two gunmen on motorcycle had opened fire on the church of Mar-Mina in Helwan on the morning of Friday 29 December 2017 as the congregation attended Holy Mass inside. The police security guards stationed outside the church exchanged fire with the gunmen; one security guard and one gunman fell dead. The other gunman tried to flee through a side street but was caught by the other security guards. The church guards hastened to shut the gates of the church, and thus protected the congregation inside but, outside the church, six Copts were killed.

The two gunmen had, on their way to the church, attacked a Coptic-owned shop that sells home appliances, killing two Coptic brothers that worked there.

Altogether, the attack claimed the life of eight Copts, one policeman, and one gunman. Five persons were injured.

During the funeral service held the following day for the Copts, Anba Raphail, Secretary-General of the Coptic Orthodox Holy Synod, voiced a strong call to fight terrorist thought in Egypt [http://en.wataninet.com/features/tourism/anba-raphail-at-funeral-of-terror-victims-egypt-must-fight-terrorist-thought/22564/].

Reaching Out

Watani started as an Egyptian weekly Sunday newspaper published in Cairo. The word Watani is Arabic for “My Homeland”. The paper was founded in 1958 by the prominent Copt Antoun Sidhom (1915 – 1995), who strove for the establishment of a civil, democratic society in Egypt, where all Egyptians would enjoy full citizenship rights regardless of their religious denomination. To this day when Watani is published as a weekly paper and an online news site, the objective remains the same. Those in charge of Watani view this role as a patriotic all-Egyptian vocation. Special attention is given to shedding light on Coptic culture and tradition as authentically Egyptian, this being a topic largely disregarded or little-understood by Egypt’s media. Watani is deeply dedicated to offer its readers high quality, extensive, objective, credible and well-researched media coverage, with special focus on Coptic issues, culture, heritage, and contribution to Egyptian society.